2 men held in beating were fugitives

Two men arrested in the Sunday beating of a 71-year-old convenience store clerk in Seffner were escaped fugitives from Wisconsin, deputies said.

James Newman, 29, and James Misleveck, 18, were taken into custody in Broward County on Wednesday and will be charged with the Seffner beating, said Debbie Carter, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

The men escaped July 17 from a Wisconsin correction facility where Newman was serving three years for firing a weapon into his girlfriend's home and Misleveck was serving three years for auto theft and arson, Carter said.

On July 18, Newman and Misleveck allegedly kidnapped a woman outside of Ho-Chunk Casino in Black River Falls, Wis., Carter said.

The men took the woman's car and robbed her of $500 before releasing her unharmed, Carter said.

After the men were arrested in Broward, Hillsborough deputies learned that they matched the description of the suspects who confronted Hasimbhai Indawala at the convenience store on U.S. 92, in Seffner, Carter said.

A surveillance video from the store shows one man grabbing Indawala by the shirt and a second, holding a knife, forcing Indawala to open the cash register, detectives said.

One of the suspects grabbed Indawala and slammed him to the ground.

The men then struck Indawala several times while he was on the floor before stealing several packs of cigarettes and leaving the store, detectives said.

Early Wednesday, Seminole Tribe police approached Newman and Misleveck, who were in a stolen Chrysler Concord at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Broward, Carter said.

A car chase took place, and the men fled on foot before being arrested, Carter said.

Newman and Misleveck will be charged by Hillsborough authorities with armed robbery and battery on the elderly.

Dwayne Williams, a regular at the convenience store, said he saw Indawala from time to time and described him as friendly and polite.

"I hope they don't escape or get back out," Williams said of the two suspects.